


Hindsight

by AceOfFates



Category: Kingdom Hearts
Genre: Getting Together, M/M, Mutual Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-10
Updated: 2020-02-10
Packaged: 2021-02-28 04:07:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22647640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AceOfFates/pseuds/AceOfFates
Summary: The best time to do it was then.The second best time to do it is right now.
Relationships: Roxas/Sora (Kingdom Hearts)
Comments: 3
Kudos: 46





	Hindsight

**Author's Note:**

> HEY WHAT'S UP SOROKU WEEK 2020 HAVE SOME P I N I N G
> 
> not really proof read or anything like that lmao i wrote it in like. 8 hours and half of that was like listening to my friend read horny fanfiction.

Nothing ever starts out obvious. Not in real life, anyway. The mechanisms that drive all of life only become obvious once they’re looked back upon. Hindsight, after all, is twenty-twenty.

Which is why nothing seems particularly out of place the first time Sora slides into the chair beside Kairi while she’s studying in the library. He doesn’t say anything immediately but the nervous energy he seems to radiate becomes increasingly distracting as he bounces his legs.

“Sora,” she sighs, closing the book she was reading on magic, “I know you want something so what is it?”

Sora stops bouncing briefly to look like a deer in headlights. It doesn’t last and then he’s moving again, inspecting his nails and the hem of his wrist guards. Kairi puts a hand against her cheek and leans over the table slightly, trying to catch Sora’s eye. It’s rare to see him quiet, no matter how loud his presence currently was.

“I… just- hm,” Sora starts haltingly, “I love you?”

Kairi blinks.

“Yes?”

Sora groans, face planting directly into the table and lacing his fingers behind his neck. Kairi reaches over to rub her knuckles directly between Sora’s shoulder blades.

“I love you, and and- Riku and Ven and everyone,” Sora starts, voice barely audible as he mumbles into the table. Kairi watches the tips of his ears slowly go red. “ I know I do but- how do I- How do I tell that apart from- from something else?”

Kairi feels a grin stretch across her lips. Loving people came to Sora as easily as breathing. He was never shy about showing it either but getting to see Sora so flustered over something like a crush? Kairi was delighted.

“Who is it?!”

Sora groans again, pressing himself flatter against the table as if trying to get it to swallow him whole. Kairi’s about to try and rib him more but suddenly Sora shoots up with enough force to knock over his chair. His whole face is red, radiating a heat Kairi can practically feel from her chair.

“You know what? It’s fine. I’m being dumb, sorry for disturbing you.”

“Sora, it’s fine to be embarassed-”

“What? Me, no. I just. I’m gonna go,” he says quickly, words flowing from his mouth like a waterfall in stark contrast to how much trouble he seemed to be having before. And just like that, he flees from the library before Kairi can say another word to him.

She looks down at her book, utterly forgotten under her forearm. Well. There was no way she was going to be able to finish studying now. She looks thoughtfully towards the door where Sora fled. Feelings were messy, she knew that. If Sora wasn’t ready to talk about whatever crush he had yet then that was fine.

She would be waiting.

-

It was nice getting to walk the streets of Twilight Town again. Out in the open this time, not hiding in dark shadows or far out of sight on the clocktower. Xion loved visiting all the hole in the wall shops and cafes that were spread across town and visiting the rocky shore of the beach with Hayner, Pence and Olette. Even with missions still interspersing their lives, things had definitely calmed down.

She and Roxas are walking down the mainstreet, arm in arm. They’re supposed to be picking up some food for a party later but Xion’s convinced they have enough time to do a little wandering before the time crunch. Cool shadows fall over the streets in the golden late afternoon light, walls lit with strings of fairy lights that emphasize the cozy nature of the town.

A colourful arrangement of fresh flowers catches Xion’s eye and she unceremoniously drags Roxas away from the shop window he was looking at to go see.

“Look at all these flowers!”

“I was looking at that, you know-” Roxas says, head turned back towards the store across the street.

Xion looks over her shoulder briefly. The store Roxas had been window shopping at was one of those kitschy kitchen stores. Boring. Roxas didn’t even like cooking.

“Hello, dear,” says a voice to Xion’s right and she definitely  _ does not _ yelp and Roxas  _ does not _ chuckle at her. Not without getting an elbow to the ribs anyway.

The kindly looking old woman, her grey hair tucked haphazardly in a low ponytail, smiles at them. “And how long have you two been together?”

Roxas’ face goes red and he starts sputtering, almost tugging his arm free of Xion’s grip. She holds him tight and pats his arm affectionately.

“Oh no, we’re just good friends. Rox here is too emotionally stunted to be in a relationship, isn’t that right?” Xion says simply, all while patting Roxas’ arm like she were an evil villain and it were a fluffy white cat.

“Hey!” He yells wrenching his arm free of her grasp.

Xion sticks her tongue out and grins.

“Don’t worry, I know you’ll get there eventually. We can’t all be as mature as me.”

“Yeah, says the girl who cried over Axel eating the last cookie the other night,” Roxas shoots back, crossing his arms and backing out of grabbing distance.

“Hey, those were from  _ Sora _ and  _ someone else _ ate the majority of them! I didn’t get any!”

Roxas’ face has turned red again, hard to miss even as he turns his head away.

“Whatever, I’m going into that shop, come get me when you’re done.” It’s probably meant to sound tough but instead it sounds like he’s giving up and fleeing before this can get any worse.

Xion narrows her eyes at his retreating back. The old woman running the flower cart laughs beside her.

“Oh my, to be young and in love again,” she says.

“Really we’re just friends-” Xion starts saying but the woman shakes her head.

“No, no, dear, not with you.”

Xion whips her head back around to the kitchen store, thoughts churning in their head. There was one person they knew that liked cooking.

Xion buys Roxas a small bouquet of forget-me-nots just to be a shithead. 

-

Sora scans the crowd that had gathered in the ballroom of Disney Castle, although despite the fancy venue the party looked more akin to something out of a movie set in college. There was a banquet length table set out with various party snacks, a large fountain full of punch that Sora was beginning to think was probably alcoholic but wasn’t sure whether or not on purpose.

Across the room he spots him. Roxas is currently doubled over in laughter as Hayner tries to hold up Cloud’s sword and fails spectacularly. There’s a sizable divet left in the shiny hardwood flooring that all parties laugh at for a moment and then quickly realize what has happened and make themselves scarce from the scene of the crime.

Sora smiles into his cup of (maybe) alcoholic punch even as he wishes it was him making Roxas laugh.

“Hey, what’cha smiling at mister?”

There’s suddenly two bodies framing him at either side. Riku and Kairi both looking at him with identical smug expressions. Sora regrets even alluding to having feelings all those weeks ago.

“Let it go, Kai,” he says.

“We’re your best friends, there’s no way we’re letting it go,” Riku replies, resting one arm on the top of Sora’s head.

“I can’t believe you told him.”

Kairi shrugs, taking a sip out of her own cup, and says in a sing song voice, “you never told me not to.”

“So, who was over there, I wonder,” Riku says conversationally.

“Oh yes, let us discuss! Surely it wasn’t Cloud,” Kairi replies.

“Although he is very good to look at,” -Sora snorts on his drink- “could it be Hayner?”

“Hmm,” Kairi hums sceptically, “I don’t think so. Sora doesn’t get all red in the face every time he’s mentioned. Who was that other blond over there?”

“Oh!” Riku says, voice thick with mock surprise, “you couldn’t possibly mean-”

Sora drags one hand down the side of his face, ducking out from under Riku’s arm and turning to face them suddenly enough that he careens sideways and hits Kairi with his elbow. He backs up a step while holding his hands up in flimsy defence.

“It’s not gonna happen guys so just let it go-” Sora says while continuing to back up, right into another person. Riku and Kairi’s eyes go wide and then matching smiles grace their faces as they look at each other.

“What’s not gonna happen?” Roxas says and Sora turns his head to see that yes. He did just back right into his crush. There’s tiny blue flowers knotted in his hair. There’s tiny blue flowers in Roxas’ hair and Sora can already feel the heat radiating from his cheeks. When he looks back to where Kairi and Riku were, they’re gone. Traitors.

“Nothing!” Sora says too quickly and jumps away to put an appropriate amount of space between him and Roxas.

Roxas raises an eyebrow but doesn’t pry. Thank the stars. From this distance he can see a slight flush across Roxas’ cheeks. He must have been drinking the punch too.

“Uh, hey, do you wanna,” Roxas raises a hand to rub at the back of his neck, “get some air with me?”

“Sure! Of course! Let’s go!” Sora says far too enthusiastically for the situation. Before he can embarrass himself more he marches himself towards the door that leads to the gardens.

-

Roxas follows Sora to the doors, hoping he doesn’t look as awkward as he feels. Outside the night air is cool compared to the slightly stuffy atmosphere of inside the ballroom and it’s a welcome change against his flushed cheeks. Sora is still forging the path ahead, walking without hesitation towards the hedge maze.

He twists his fingers nervously in the handles of the plastic bag he’s carrying behind his back. Luckily, Sora hadn’t seemed to notice that he’d been hiding something when he asked to come outside. Roxas would have just given it to him inside but in case Sora didn’t like it he didn’t particularly want witnesses to see his shame.

At least that’s what he told himself.

“It’s a beautiful night, isn’t it? Haha!” Sora says stiffly from up ahead and oh boy. Had Roxas done something wrong recently? The plastic bag in his hands suddenly felt heavier.

“Yeah, it is,” Roxas agrees lamely, the sound pushing itself between his teeth.

Sora spins around, hands clasped behind his head in his signature pose but the expression is all off. His face his red, his smile strained and not reaching his eyes.

Roxas feels all the bravado he had earlier drain from him. This was an awful idea.

“I uh- If you want to go back to the party-” Roxas starts, feet shuffling back towards the castle.

“No!” Sora yells and suddenly he’s right there in front of Roxas, grasping one of Roxas’ hands with both of his own. He’s looking at Roxas with those eyes, he could practically see the stars reflected in them. “No, stay.”

There’s a tense pause where Sora has Roxas’ hand held between his own, where they’re making eye contact that by the second is getting more and more awkward. Sora’s eyes flick down to their hands and seems to realize how intimate it is. His face darkens, red spreading over his cheeks and reaching his ears in record time. If Roxas wasn’t also as red as a fucking tomato he’d think it was cute.

Fuck it. It’s still cute.

Sora jumps back with a little hop and offers Roxas a wide but still feeble smile.

Before he can possibly chicken out again, or Sora opens his mouth and says something else, Roxas holds out the plastic bag between them.

“I wanted to thank you. For the cookies,” he says and oh stars, he sounds just as stiff as Sora did earlier. Great, good way to show your appreciation for. Everything.

Sora makes a surprised sound and takes the bag from Roxas’ hand, peering inside with the expression of a dog that’s been offered a new toy. Roxas doesn’t really know much about baking other than that Sora enjoyed it. He’d tried to follow some video recipes before and, well, apparently following instructions wasn’t his forte.

Sora removes the rectangular box from the bag. It’s a silicon baking mat the cashier had assured him any baker would love. Roxas hopes they were right.

“Oh, Roxas, you didn’t have to,” Sora says staring at the box intently.

“I wanted to,” Roxas mumbles into the quiet night air. Of course he wanted to. He wanted to do everything for Sora but didn’t know how to go about it. Wasn’t sure what was too much. Wasn’t sure about the tangle of feelings that rested in his chest, churning and twisting within him every time Sora’s name was merely mentioned. He was afraid he’d never be able to untangle them.

Sora’s eyes rise up to meet his and the night is no longer quiet as the blood starts pounding in his ears. Roxas swallows against the dry feeling suddenly in his throat. Sora’s done so much for him, surely it wasn’t that weird for Roxas to want to repay him even just a little bit.

Even if that wasn’t the entire truth of his motivation.

“I can… return it?” Roxas tries, as Sora continues his unrelenting staring.

“No, no! It’s great, I. Just,” Sora says haltingly, then growls in frustration dropping the bag so he can run a hand through his hair. “Roxas, I need to tell you something.”

Roxas sure hopes he’ll be able to hear Sora over the roaring sound of his heart in his ears.

“I love you. No, I. I’m  _ in love _ with you and if that freaks you out that’s fine but-”

Roxas didn’t need to hear any more. As much as Roxas loved hearing Sora talk, there were other things he could be doing with that mouth right now. Like kissing him.

Sora makes a muffled noise of surprise as Roxas crashes into him, grabbing Sora by the shoulders and pulling him close. Sora’s mouth opens in a moan, his own hands coming up to thread through Roxas’ hair. It’s like a dam has burst inside him, the tangled feelings flowing out until it was nothing but his connection with Sora.

Because it was always Sora, wasn’t it?

Sora pulls back first, moving to instead push their foreheads together and look Roxas in the eyes. Sora’s face is flushed and, oh.  _ Oh _ . He thought Sora’s face had been red from the awkwardness or the spiked punch. It suddenly hits him that Sora was flushed  _ because of him _ .

“I love you, too,” Roxas says on his next exhale.

Sora’s face twitches and then he pulls away, laughter bubbling up and filling up Roxas’ chest.

“Yeah! I think I got that!” Sora says between gasps and wheezes. Roxas feels laughter forming in the base of his chest too and leans forward to rest his head on Sora’s shoulder.

“We should’ve done this sooner,” he says hysterically into Sora’s shirt.

“Maybe,” Sora laughs back. Roxas feels Sora turn his head, pressing his face into Roxas’ flower laden hair. “But there’s no time like the present.”

He was right. In hindsight it seemed obvious. The glances, the red faces, the excuses. Maybe the best time to have done this was then, but the second best time was  _ right now. _


End file.
